is it possible if I can stay in Dubai for couple of days on my coming back trip from Pakistan. I dun wanna stay in Dubai when i am going to Pakistan but I need my return ticket in a way that it would let me stay in Dubai for a while and then just fly back here in the USA.. can I do this?
which airline would be preferable for this trip.. PIA or Emirates?
is it recommended to buy one-way tickets of two different airlines, meaning I can go there by taking PIA and come back by Emirates?
another question, if I plan to buy a ticket now for Dec. how much should it cost me and what would be the expecting rate around the holiday season in Dec.?
PS: sounds convoluted, but I am just confused about how to arrange my trip so I can visit my family in Pakistan as well as my friend in Dubai in just one trip.
I think the cheapest way for you is to buy a return ticket to dubai (and abck)i, and one extra return ticket from dubai to pakistan(and back to dubai) :)
You will have to stay on your way to pakistan in dubai for a few hours, for your next flight.
But it s the easiest way I think
on your way back you can arrange it so that u can stay in Dubai for a few days.
dont forget to check visa and stuff, cuz I heard they got really strcikt about that and all :)
edit/
please dont mind the typo's cuz its late and I m sleepy :D
I will do exactly the same on my next trip to Pakistan.
The route I will go on is:
Vienna -> Dubai (Emirates)
3 hours stop-over on Dubai Airport
Dubai -> Lahore (Emirates)
Lahore -> Dubai (Emirates)
2 days stay in Dubai
Dubai -> Vienna (Emirates)
That will cost me around 750 Euro (per person).
The advantage of that is, that if you go on Emirates, they will give you a hotel room at a very low rate (as compared to normal rates), they will arrange the transport from the airport to the hotel and back and they will arrange a visa for you that is valid for upto 96 hours. (if you are EU, US or Canadian citizen).
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I think the cheapest way for you is to buy a return ticket to dubai (and abck)i, and one extra return ticket from dubai to pakistan(and back to dubai)
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I guess its same as Umer explained in its reply...by the way do you have more infotmation about any visa legislations for Pakistani citizens?
Umer: looks like thats exactly what I want.. Thank you :-) Now I am going to chose Emirates over PIA, but is it possible if you can check the price in US dollars too? In fact, whenever I check it online its like more than 1500 dollars and I know i can find cheaper than this but dunno how... I 'd really appreciate if you can provide me some more information about the fare in US dollars.
visa..umm what about pakistani citizens, and can I just ask my airline to arrange the visa for me or its only for citizens of EU, US or Canada??
When I checked the price online, it was something like € 1200,–, so you can really forget what it says there.
I just called my travel agent and he gave me that fare. Unfortunately PIA does not fly to Vienna, so that was not an option for me anyway.
Regarding the Visa: I just found out, that even if you are not EU/US/Canada citizen, Emirates will arrange the visa formalities for you. What you need to do is: Contact your local Emirates office (in the US they have offices in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and New York) and they will process it.
u by a ticket to dubai and back, and u buy one more ticket from dubai to pakistan and from pakistan to dubai.
about visa, you ll have to contact the dubai embassy. If there s none in your hood, try the embassy in dubai.
But I do know, that if you have a pakistani visa, they can cause some trouble sometimes. goodluck :biggthumb
Umer: Thanx alot, even Emirates is telling me $1500, but I 'll use contacts here and ask this friend's uncle who works in travle agency to get me tickets and I hope he will keep in mind the budget of a poor student. $ The link proved to very useful. Thank you so much n have a nice trip. :-)
dutch_paki (an advocate of Praetexatus): thats what I thought and I made that clear in my reply too...on a side note, I might not have any problem getting the visa for DUbai because my friend's dad has assured me that all I need is to decide that I am gonna stop over in Dubai, rest of it will be arranged by him, Inshallah everything would turn out fine. Thank you for sharing information. :-)
Umer: it could be :(, but I know someone who got a ticket for $1100 during the peak season of summer, so it shouldn’t be that much if I buy it in 5 months advance, lets see what happens. *sighh
on my way to isl from frankfurt i had a stay in dubai for about 18 hours. i took gulf. its the cheapest. :-D 480 euros for a return ticket. including hotel stay. i stayed in a hotel which was outside the airport and was given the visa at the airport for 24hours. didn't have any problems.
u can talk to ur airline(agent) and see if they can give you a flight which has a stay in dubai. if you take this route then also ensure that they provide you the hotel which is OUTSIDE the airport. this is the only way you get to leave the airport. i had a friend who took the same flight but his hotel was inside the airport.
you can consider flying from usa->europe (return ticket) and then from europe to pakistan via dubai(return ticket). this is what i did. i think it costs cheaper to visit pak via europe then flying directly to pak.
or as somebody else mentioned get a return ticket for usa->dubai and then another return ticket from dubai->pak.
it would depend on what ur agent would offer you and what is available at the time you are planning to fly.
